


Watch and Learn

by Kaigoryu



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Artist AU, College AU, M/M, friends to boyfriends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 00:17:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6261595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaigoryu/pseuds/Kaigoryu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler meets Josh on the first day of his new college art class. Josh might just be taking the class for the credit, but that won't stop him from trying to impress Tyler with what little skill he has. (Joshler college au)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watch and Learn

Tyler wanted to scream.

But that wasn’t new; Life’s general struggles were usually enough to push Tyler over the edge. But today’s struggles were was significantly worse than normal, because Tyler would be starting as a freshman in college, and for him, new experiences spelled nothing short of disaster.

Tyler’s roommate Patrick had left almost an hour ago for his music class or date with Pete or whatever it was he did in his free time. Patrick had accidentally woken Tyler up forever ago and he’d been awake ever since then, lying still, mentally gathering his nerves. Tyler knew he should get up but the idea of going back to sleep and forgetting he existed for a while was all too tempting.

After tearing himself from the warm bedsheets, Tyler hopped around his dorm trying to get his probably-way-too-skinny skinny jeans on so he could make a run for the Fine Arts building. He’d already wasted way more time than he should have due to both his inability to get up in the mornings and worrying nature, and now that the fog of sleep had cleared, he was regretting those extra minutes in bed more and more by the second.

Tyler didn’t exactly blame himself for the delay that morning; anyone in his shoes with his problems and mindset surely would have done the exact same thing. He has too many problems and no way to fix them, so he copes with them by way of worrying.

Besides the usual first-day issues, that morning Tyler’s thoughts had been filled with regrets. He’d resolved when he’d signed up that he was going to use this class as an outlet to find himself a friend. Art class was the best place for that, he’d decided back then, and yeah, that maybe that was true. But now that it’d actually come time to find someone, he found himself in the rare position where he’d rather eat sand.

Tyler had his hand on the doorknob when he realized he was still wearing his pajama shirt. He groaned as he turned around and scanned the room, searching for something to wear in one of the many piles of his and Patrick’s shirts lying around.

It couldn’t be anything too fancy or impressionable. That was completely essential. But he had to look nice, this was college and after all, he did have standards. Low ones, granted, but they were there.

The clock was ticking, so Tyler grabbed a black button-down shirt adorned with a tropical-reminiscent floral print and black jacket.

No need to overdo it, he thought as he grabbed his tattered red beanie, backpack and sketchbook and practically flew out the door.

I’m twelve minutes late already? He thought exasperatedly, checking his phone time as he arrived outside the right building.

Attempting to pull the door open to no avail, Tyler found himself groaning for the second time that morning.

Locked. Of course. Today really isn’t my day. He yanked on the door’s handle some more, trying in vain to reach his class.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works,” said a voice bemusedly from behind Tyler’s right shoulder. Flustered from both the door itself and getting caught unable to open it, Tyler spun around quickly, hoping the voice’s owner would be kind enough to help a guy out (or at least kind enough to not make fun of him).

Tyler opened his mouth to ask what the stranger meant, but became immediately distracted by just how attractive the other guy was.

He had on a navy-blue jacket, unzipped to reveal a plain white V-neck, a stark contrast to his ripped black skinny jeans and all-black Converse. Brown eyes were crinkled from smiling, a ways below Tyler’s eye level; the guy was quite a bit shorter. Dyed, curly, bright-red hair stuck up from his head in many different directions, and to Tyler’s delight, a small silver stud poked out from the side of his nose.

“You…alright, bro?” The guy asked, leaning forward slightly when Tyler hadn’t responded due to awe.

The smile had disappeared from the guy’s face, replaced now only by a look of concern for Tyler. Mentally slapping himself, Tyler attempted to string together a coherent sentence before the guy got even more creeped out than he already was.

“Yeah, sorry,” Tyler apologized, and was pleasantly surprised by how normal he sounded to himself. “I’m just trying to get into the building, but I guess it’s locked.”

The guy raised an eyebrow. “Dude. It’s push.”

He brushed past Tyler and effortlessly swung the door open, holding it open for Tyler and laughing the whole time.

“How long have you been stuck out here?!” He asked between peals of laughter.  
“Ten minutes!” Tyler felt extremely stupid now, but tried to laugh it off. The guy finally stopped laughing at Tyler long enough to let the door slam shut. When he began walking down the hall, Tyler followed.

“Well, it’s not your fault I guess,” The guy said, and Tyler wasn’t sure if he was starting a conversation or filling the silence. “The letters were faded off the door.”

He came to a stop and switched his coffee to his left hand. Offering his right, he smiled warmly at Tyler, wrinkling his nose like a rabbit.

“My name’s Josh Dun.”

Tyler took his hand and smiled back. “Tyler Joseph.”

“Great to meet you, Tyler Joseph. Where’re you headed?” Josh had a confident air about him now, and a smirk that seemed to say ‘I know exactly how cute I am and I’m 100% okay with using my charm on you’.

Tyler swallowed. “Art room, but I have no clue where that is.”

“That’s no problem, my dude, I’m headed there, too! Come on, I’ll show you where it’s at.”

Smiling now, Josh turned and led the way down the hall, walking fast. Tyler had to hurry to keep up, but he was grinning at the back of Josh’s head the whole time.

“This is it,” Josh stated simply, coming to stop in front of a closed door with a squeak.  
Tyler’s stomach churned with worry and he began to chew his lip. They were late, so of course the door was closed already. Josh pulled it open with no hesitation and walked in, and Tyler was left with no choice but to follow. He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

To his relief, the class hadn’t actually started yet, and they hadn’t interrupted anything important. The professor appeared to be running late as well, or so Tyler deducted from the empty desk up front. Josh and Tyler hurried to two desks pushed together in the middle row, over to the side by the massive window that took up the whole wall.

All the desks in the room were paired up, and for the first time in his entire life, Tyler found himself wishing for group work. If Josh was willing to be his partner, he could die happy.

As they settled down onto their stools, Josh turned to Tyler and attempted conversation.  
“So, you’re an artist? Or like, into art, I guess?”

Tyler looked at him, pleased Josh was even willing to talk to him. “Of course I’m into it. You’d have to be to take this class, right?”

Josh blushed, cheeks igniting like fire.

“Um… I don’t…Nevermind. Dumb question, of course you’re here ‘cause you’re really interested in art. Me too, by the way. I’m totally…invested in my art…” He trailed off like he wasn’t sure what to say anymore, and every word he’d just said seemed suspicious to Tyler.

“Why are you here if you don’t like art?” Tyler asked curiously, looking up at Josh. The red-haired man was definitely the shortest, but Tyler’s tendency to slouch made Josh seem way taller.

“I do like art!” Josh said defensively. “I like to look at other people’s art, anyways… I just don’t like to make art. And I need the credit.” He crossed his arms over his desk, leaning his shoulders down to be equal with Tyler’s again.

“What classes do you like, then?” Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“Math, mostly.” Josh said casually, making Tyler scoff.

“Oh, my God,” He hiccupped a laugh, high-pitched and ringing. “I just made friends with a math nerd!” He gestured at Josh, loosely pointing.

“Don’t laugh, Tyler!” Josh feigned hurt. “Seriously, dude?”

But Tyler couldn’t help it. Who says they like math? He couldn’t stop giggling, and now Josh was smiling, too.

“Attention!” A voice called from the front of the room. Tyler sobered up as he and Josh turned to face the front and listen to their professor’s introduction.

It was the standard first-class run-though, and Tyler soon found himself bored and twitchy. He shook his leg up and down and lightly tapped his fingers in an attempt to expel nervous energy from his system.

Josh was bored now, too, but unlike Tyler, he stayed completely still. Instead, he devoted his time to staring at Tyler’s profile. The downward curve of his forehead, his strong eyebrows and pointed nose, and the way all his features seemed a bit too small, in an adorable, pixie-ish sort of way.

Josh’s eyes traveled to the top of Tyler’s head, where his bright red beanie had resided from the moment they’d met. Josh wondered what Tyler’s hair looked like underneath the hat, and he bit his bottom lip, thinking.

Maybe it’s dyed a really bright color, like mine, Josh thought curiously, before frowning instead. That didn’t seem like Tyler’s thing. Besides, if his eyebrow’s color matched his hair, Tyler was definitely a brunette.

Maybe it was really long and he didn’t want to style it this morning, so he shoved it all in a beanie and walked out the door. That was more realistic, at least, but once again Josh thought Tyler didn’t seem like that kind of guy.

He wondered if he could reach up and use his pencil to push the beanie out of the way. It’d be only for a second, just long enough for a peek…

“Hey, Josh?” Tyler’s grumbly voice brought him back from his fantasy world.

“What’s up?” He tried to pretend like he wasn’t about to do something really creepy to someone he’d just met.

“It’s time to go?” Tyler smiled sweetly but raised a dark eyebrow as his smile mixed with confusion.

“What?” Josh looked around himself, and sure enough people were getting up and gathering their stuff, walking out leisurely in groups and pairs.

“Guess I zoned out, huh?” He laughed, standing up and stretching. Tyler nodded but his eyes were transfixed on the small stretch of stomach that was momentarily exposed.

“Hey, what’re you doing after this?” Tyler’s heart beat a little faster.

“Just going back to the dorm, sleep or something,” Tyler said, trying to hint heavily at his plan-less afternoon.

“Well, wanna hang with me instead?” Josh shoved his hands in his pocket and gave a hopeful smile. “We can go to Taco Bell, if you like that…?” Tyler grinned.

“Taco Bell sounds sick. Let’s head out.” They walked to the parking lot together, taking their time, talking and laughing the whole way there.  
\---

"Okay, but if you had to choose, like, it's pick or die, real serious stuff."

Tyler was laughing so hard that his eyes were watering, and he could barely make out Josh's face, struggling to stay serious through his giggles as he played Tyler in Would You Rather, both trying to find out useless facts about each other. 

Instead of talking with his hands, Josh was temporarily talking with his taco, pointing it idly in Tyler's direction every time he fired off a new question.  
"I dunno man, I just..." Tyler exhaled, trying to calm down.

Something about Josh's personality just clicked with Tyler's sense of humor, more so than with any other person Tyler had ever met. The result was Tyler acting like he was drunk off his ass, constantly, ever since meeting Josh. 

And he loved it. No one had ever made him this happy before, except maybe Jenna. But she was his best friend, ever since they were little, and besides, this, what he had with Josh, just felt different.

Chill, man, He commanded himself. Don't scare him off on the first day.  
He sat up straighter and cleared his throat. He would have a normal conversation with this man even if it killed him.

"Okay. On the one hand, I have to have really cold showers. Forever. That's mega-unappealing to me, because my showers are always really hot. But I love sleep more than anything so I think I'd get over it... No, actually, I'd live an extremely bitter life. But I'd survive."

Josh looked up and smiled, showing his pretty teeth, and Tyler's heart felt like it was rising up into his throat. He swallowed, wondering somewhere in the back of his mind (he was pretty distracted at the moment) if it would make the feeling go away. But the feeling stayed, along with Josh's teeth and Tyler's good mood, as Tyler listened to Josh answer for himself.

Josh broke off a piece of the corn shell on his taco, humming in thought. Tyler vaguely recognized the tune, from listening to the radio in Jenna’s car.

(She had it permanently set to the local pop station, the one that was always asking for people to call in. Jenna would request songs sometimes, but Tyler just Googled whatever he wanted. He didn’t know why a song on the radio was any more special than a regular one; it’s what the song says that matters, not how loud it speaks.)

Josh seemed to have gathered his thoughts now. Or maybe Tyler’s mind was faster than Josh’s mouth. Either way, Josh was ready to talk now, and Tyler was ready to listen.

Even with a conversation as ridiculous as this. Tyler thought fondly.  
“I think I’d go with the cold shower one, too…” Josh said slowly, as if still undecided. “’Cause there’d always be baths, right?”

A sheepish grin followed. “What are the parameters for this metaphorical question?”

Tyler raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t look at me, you made it up. “

“Touché to that, brother.”

Josh let his eye wonder to the door that had just opened with a soft ring, and nearly choked on his Mountain Dew.

“Oh, God,” He groaned, tilting his head down and hiding his face with his hand.  
Tyler craned his neck to get a better look at the two guys who’d just walked in. 

“Who’re they?” He asked, equal parts questioning and cautious.

“Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross,” Josh hissed. “Get your head down, before they see us-!“

Too late.

One of the guys, the shorter of the two, had enthusiastically waved and called out, “Hey, you, Josh Dun, wassup!” in a way that told Tyler he was way more interested in seeing Josh than the Josh was seeing him.

Josh widened his eyes at Tyler before raising his head up from behind his hand, as casually as he could be as someone in his situation.

“Brendon, hey, it’s… been a while..!” He smiled at the guy, Brendon, and Tyler suddenly felt a stab of jealousy.

Which was ridiculous. He didn’t own Josh’s smiles, Josh could aim them at whomever he pleased… Tyler’s attempts to talk himself down didn’t work very well, but he tried to trick himself into thinking they did.

“Never thought I’d see you again.”

Brendon seemed to have calmed down now, initial outburst receding. Ryan had joined him by their table now, too. He was taller than Brendon, but only barely, and Tyler could definitely tell who had the chill in their relationship.

Brendon was full of bouncy energy, and his tight clothes and sunglasses told Tyler he was a pretty trendy guy. He reminded Tyler of someone you might see on Tumblr, attractive in both a conventional and vintage sense, and Brendon seemed to pull off the scholarly and the party-guy look at the same time.

Ryan seemed like a knowledgeable guy to Tyler, or at least had the fashion sense of one. His maroon cardigan and black shirt were both sensible and nice to look at, and Tyler automatically approved of anyone who wore Vans.

He acknowledged Tyler with an upward tilt of the head, and Tyler didn’t know if it was the giddiness leftover from Josh or what, but he smiled back at Ryan. For the first time in a while, he actually meant it.

“So, Joshua,” Brendon started, and Tyler watched as Josh visibly cringed. “Party, my place, This Saturday. I’ll text you with more.”

Brendon didn’t even wait for Josh’s response. Maybe because he would’ve been there for a so long. Josh’s mouth was hanging open speechless, half-gazing, half-glaring at Brendon as he grabbed Ryan and their taco bag and took a few strides over to the door.

“And bring your new boyfriend, too!” He called over his shoulder, smirking like he knew exactly what their relationship status was.

Both Tyler and Josh’s faces burned, and they took turns awkwardly starting conversations until finally Josh got it right.

“So, it’s almost ten, and we’ve got class tomorrow. Can I give you a ride back?” He was looking at his hands almost the entire time, glancing up only once to look at Tyler’s blushing face

Tyler forced a laugh, hoping it could ease the tension a bit.  
He stood up and pushed his chair in as he replied, “I should hope so, otherwise I’d have to walk home in the dark, and God knows how safe that is ‘round here…”

Famous smile now back in business, Josh was as confident as ever, all eyebrows and direct eye contact and teeth. Tyler felt like melting because he caused that, he made that smile.  
\---

That night, after Josh had dropped him off outside his door with an unexpected (but welcome) hug, Tyler had practically fallen into the room, sighing and smiling like a stereotypical girl in love.

Patrick looked up from his notebook, pushing his glasses up further onto his nose for a better view.

“Tyler? Are you drunk?” He asked genuinely, no joke in his tone at all.

Normally, Tyler would have been offended, but he couldn’t bring himself to care right now. He shook his head no, and Patrick’s left eyebrow shot up. He patted the end of his bed, and Tyler all but floated over.

“I met someone today, ‘Trick, and he’s amazing.” Another grin from Tyler’s end.

Patrick almost whistled. He had never seen Tyler so smiley before, not since eighth grade, when the depression took root and he’d lost interest in so many things.

“He must really be something,” Patrick said, curious now. “What’s his name?”

“It’s Josh. He has red hair.” Tyler didn’t know why he felt the need to share that last part with Patrick. He just liked Josh’s hair so much, and he really wanted to tell somebody about it.

“What, Josh Dun?”

“That’s him. How’d you know?” Tyler tilted his head at Patrick.

“I used to drum with him sometimes, a year ago? Maybe a year and half. I think he gave it up, but he’s a really cool guy.” Patrick smiled at Tyler, ready to support this crush now that he knew and approved of which Josh they were talking about. “I’m glad you guys hit it off.”

“Me too.”

Tyler rose from a bemused Patrick’s bed, and took a couple steps up the ladder to his own. He immediately collapsed on the bed, closing his eyes but finding himself too wired to sleep.   
After ten minutes of trying to drift off but not succeeding, he sat up again and pulled his sketchbook out from under his pillow.

He drew a quick circle and Josh’s face shape, and added two dark, angled eyebrows. Next, Josh’s nose and piercing and a smiling mouth… Tyler loved Josh’s mouth. He remembered exactly how to draw it because he’d spent so much time staring at it.

Finally, Josh’s eyes, squinty and bright. When Tyler finished and looked back at his work, he smiled in content. He usually wasn’t happy with his drawings, but this picture of Josh was just fine by Tyler.

Maybe Josh is my muse, Tyler thought, before letting his eyes droop and his mind rest.  
\---

"Is it weird that I'm nervous?"

Tyler's voice sounded foreign and small even to himself, and he wasn't even sure if Josh could hear him from his spot in the driver's seat. Josh's eyes remained on the road, but he still acknowledged Tyler by tilting his head towards the younger boy.

"First party?" Josh asked, turning into a neighborhood Tyler had never heard of, seen, or been to.

"Technically, yeah," Tyler responded simply. He supposed Jenna's middle school birthday parties didn't count. He'd never been to a college party, for sure, and Tyler's already thin nerves were completely shot.

"I think it's okay to be nervous," Josh said, and Tyler admired how calm Josh was being about his.

It was just a party, but the idea that someone could actually not freak out about something like this amazed him.

“First real party’s kind of big deal. You’ll never forget it. Unless you drink enough.” He punctuates his sentence with a bark of a laugh that says, ‘I’m amused, but not very much.’

Tyler looks out the window, away from Josh. “Drinking’s not really my thing.”

“That’s cool, man, there’ll be sodas and stuff, too,” Josh said immediately, because he’d just realized that talking about alcohol will just stress Tyler even more than he already was. Poor guy already looked like he was about to puke, and Josh was not about to let that happen in his car.

Josh pulled onto Brendon’s street, parking a few houses down because cars were already lining the street near the party.

Josh turned to Tyler and looked him in the eyes. “Are you ready?”

Tyler looked away, but nodded in response. He reached for the door handle. Josh stopped him.

“We don’t have to go to this party,” He said quietly. “I don’t even like Brendon.”

“It’s cool,” Tyler said, repeating what Josh had said earlier. “I’ll be fine.”

He gave a smile to hopefully reimburse his argument. He was sure it didn’t work, not with the skeptical glance Josh sent at the side of his head before he got out.  
\---

Tyler didn’t feel up to this.

He and Josh had arrived at this party two hours ago, and Tyler hadn’t realized fully what a college party was like. To be fair, though, it might just be the fact that it was Brendon’s party. But Tyler felt certain he wouldn’t be going to anyone’s parties anymore, Brendon’s or otherwise.

Josh had done a pretty good job of sticking with Tyler so far, right up until he’d been dragged away by someone of the name of Pete, who claimed to have something urgent he had to talk to Josh about now.

Tyler had been left alone in a chair in the corner, sipping Red Bull and people-watching. There were kids who barely looked 21 completely shit-faced already, and people who were functioning much better than those kids but still obviously drunk. Tyler didn’t drink anything for that exact reason. If he was going to do something stupid, he’d at least like to have a clear mind to fix the situation with.

Or maybe that’s the point of getting drunk, Tyler thought, watching a girl drop a cup of punch before she could even take a sip. You don’t have to fix your problems ‘til you’re sober.

“Tyler, man, what’re you doing?” Tyler turned to see a grinning Brendon Urie, leaning in the doorway with his shirt undone, red solo cup in hand and a light blush on his cheeks.

“Sitting?” Tyler asked, even though he knew full well what Brendon meant.

“No, not literally,” Brendon’s eyes narrowed for half a second before becoming cheery once more. “I meant, join the party! They’ve got strip poker in that room, I think, and beer-pong in another, and there’s cute girls everywhere! There’s some dudes too, if you’re into that. Hey, speaking of dudes you’re into, how’s Josh?” 

He wiggled his eyebrows like caterpillars across his abnormally large forehead.

“Josh and I aren’t together.” Tyler reminded him gently, hoping he’d drop the subject.

Brendon managed to make him uncomfortable every time the spoke, which kind of disappointed Tyler because Brendon didn’t seem like a bad guy. Their personalities just didn’t mesh well, and that was okay. But sometimes Tyler wished he were personable, that way he could have another friend in Brendon.  
\---  
Two Red Bulls, some Cheez-Its and a bottle of Hawaiian Punch later, Tyler was completely sick of Brendon’s party. He was starting to wish he’d asked Josh to just turn around and go home earlier, back when Josh had offered him an out.

On the one hand, Tyler was proud of himself for even agreeing to something like this, but on the other, Tyler’s emotions were swinging nonstop from bored to terrified with each passing minute.

The party wasn’t even that bad, as parties go. No one except Brendon and Josh had tried to talk to him since it started. In fact, no one was even sober enough to give a second glance in his direction. But Tyler was still very weary of the people around, and by the 1 o’ clock mark, Tyler would have sold his soul to go home.

However, it seemed luck was not on his side that night, as no demons showed up to reap his soul and grant his wish. Instead Tyler grew impatient, sitting in the corner with his snacks, and once it became clear no one was gonna show up, he decided to take matters into his own hands and find Josh himself.

It was a bit tough, because he had no idea where Josh was and because Brendon had a big house. But Tyler didn’t really mind too much because he literally had all night to find him. If he didn’t find Josh, Tyler wasn’t going home.  
Tyler decided the best place to start looking would be in the kitchen, and make his way around the house and all the way upstairs from there.

In the kitchen, Tyler found nothing except four guys getting high. He decided to leave them alone.

In the next room, the living room, Tyler had a bit of a harder time finding Josh, because almost everyone at the party seemed to be in the living room.

The lights were off, and the couch had been pushed over to the wall. The only light in the entire room came from a lamp in the corner and the porchlight filtering in from the window.

He walked all the way around the perimeter of the room, not finding Josh. He did come across a hotdog on the floor, though, but only because he stepped on it.  
Tyler ended up seeing Josh as he was walking up the stairs. He didn’t know why he turned his head in that moment; Instinct, he supposed? Maybe he saw a flash of red in his peripherals.

Whatever it was that made him do it, Tyler turned his head, and was met with the sight of Josh, shirtless, with some guy on his lap, attempting to suck his lips off.  
Tyler knew he was blocking the stairs, but at this point nothing really mattered to him. He’d thought he and Josh had something; Apparently he was wrong.

Tyler narrowed his eyes as he turned around and climbed back down the stairs to get out of a girl’s way. He decided not to stop and kept walking, all the way out the door and down the street, until he was seated in the back of Josh’s pick-up, wishing he had the keys to get inside.

It actually didn’t take as long for Josh to come outside as he thought it would; Not even thirty minutes later, Josh was walking over, waving at Tyler. Tyler was practically seething inside, but he waved back anyways and plastered a fake smile to his lips.

As soon as Josh unlocked the truck, Tyler hopped into the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt.

“I’m sorry I left you alone at the party,” Josh said. Half of his face was red from the light they’d stopped at, washing his sorry expression with the angry color.

“It’s cool,” Tyler responded calmly, eyes focused on nothing except the road.

“No…” Josh said. Tyler didn’t look, but he thought Josh’s gaze was now on the floor mat. “It was pretty shitty of me. You said you were nervous, and I abandoned you for like, hours.”

Tyler was silent for a moment, weighing his words. He’d expected Josh to come back drunk, and thought that was why he hadn’t returned earlier; Tyler actually felt worse now that he knew nothing was impairing Josh’s judgement.

Wow, Tyler thought bitterly. I must be pretty boring, huh?

Tyler glanced over at Josh, who’d gone quiet. He realized Josh was probably waiting for a reply. He looked miserable. Tyler decided he could forgive him for leaving him, but he was still a bit sore over the kissing thing, despite the fact that Josh had no real commitment to him.

“It’s really okay, Josh,” Tyler replied finally, and Josh’s face lit up again. “You’re allowed to enjoy a party. Besides, Pete did pull you away. It wasn’t all your fault. What did he want anyways?”

“Oh…” Josh said, trailing off. “Pete has this band, it’s kind of new, and he has all these songs they’ve wrote, and they’re really good. But their current drummer is also their singer, and now they have a show, and the guy can’t do both. So Pete wants me to perform with them.”

“Pete wants you to sing?” Tyler asked incredulously, scrunching up his eyebrows.

“No!” Josh replied, snorting. “Can you imagine me singing? I’d be terrible. No, he wanted me to drum with them, but I can’t.”

“I didn’t know you drummed. Why can’t you drum with Pete?” Tyler asked, curious.

“It’s just my hobby…I just don’t think I’d be able to drum in front of that many people… I don’t know. I guess I have stage fright,” Josh admitted.

“That’s okay,” Tyler said, comfortingly. “You shouldn’t perform if you’re not ready.”

“Yeah…”

They fell into a quiet that neither of them wanted to break, and the rest of the ride was spent in silence.  
\---

Josh was having a bad day.

He’d gotten up late that morning, not enough to miss a lot of class but enough to force him to rush to get ready. He’d ran all the way to class, earning him several odd looks from lingering students, and realized once he got there that he had managed to leave his sketchbook in his dorm. Worst of all, Tyler wasn’t in his seat.

Josh sat alone for a few minutes, worrying about what to do. He didn’t have a sketchbook, and normally he would have asked Tyler for a page out of his, so now he had no options left.

Josh pulled out his phone and played a couple of mindless games, trying to think of a solution, when he heard a laugh.

He recognized it immediately as Tyler’s, his laugh was definitely unique. Josh whipped around, spotting Tyler’s red beanie in the back of the room. He was next to some guy Josh didn’t know, with short reddish-brown hair and tattoos all over his arms.

Josh furrowed his brow and tried to watch without being obvious.

The guy was fit, and had a nice smile, and Josh found himself wondering if his smile looked that nice, too.

The professor walked in, and Josh turned back to face the front. Tyler joined him only a few seconds later, with a smile and hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, man, I thought you weren’t gonna show up!”

“I almost didn’t! My alarm didn’t go off, so I’m lucky my body woke me up when it did.” Josh faked a smile.

(A/N: I re-wrote part of this story more than a year ago, and this is where I stopped. I’m abandoning this story now, so I won’t fix it, but basically Josh is jealous and Tyler feels like they’re even now for Josh kissing the guy at the party.)  
\---

Tyler's head shot up at the sound of a sharp knock on his door.

He gripped his ukulele tight in his hand as he hopped from his bunk onto the floor. He shoved his ukulele into a drawer, sliding it shut and hurrying to answer the person he knew would be waiting.

Tyler gave a slightly out-of-breath grin to Josh as he swung the door open. "Hey, you ready? I really appreciate this, man."

Tyler's heart melted at the sight of Josh's sunshine smile.

"It's no problem, I really don't mind helping you out," Josh replied, walking in. After almost a month of hanging out together, Josh knew he didn't need to wait for an invitation.

"It's just... ugh. School is so shit," Tyler huffed, glaring at the wall. He hated asking for help from anyone, let alone Josh, who seemed invincible to the younger boy, like he never need help from anyone.

Josh just twinged the corners of his lips up sympathetically.

He knew Tyler wasn't doing well, but it wasn't like Tyler could help it. He was trying hard, but it was overwhelming him too much. Josh also knew Tyler was spending more time on his ukulele and songwriting than he was reading over his notes, because every time Tyler got too stressed he couldn't focus. Josh wanted to help out as much as he could, but Tyler so rarely let him.

“You’ll be okay, Ty,” Josh mentally kicked himself. He’d been calling Tyler that in his head since the first day they’d met, but never once used it out loud. He carried on with the conversation, hoping Tyler wouldn’t care too much. “Class’ll get easier, and I’ll always help you out if you need it.”

Tyler didn’t say anything, and Josh didn’t get the feeling it was because of the nickname.  
Josh sat on the edge of the bed, opening up his copy of the textbook the used in class. He was ready to start, but Tyler coughed.

“Sorry, it’s just that that’s Patrick’s bunk. Mine’s top,” he said, pulling himself up and settling under the large plaid blanket he was constantly using because he was so cold all the time.

Josh climbed up after him, book in hand, and wormed his way in next to Tyler, back to the wall and shoulders covered by Tyler’s blanket.

“Okay,” He said, turning to the right page. “Oh, this isn’t too bad, Ty, you’ve only got like, twelve problems.”

“There’s like six parts to each one!” Tyler said exasperatedly.

“That’s okay, it goes pretty quick. Here, watch, I’ll do the first one.”

Josh walked Tyler through the first problem, covering half the page in his messy scrawl.  
Tyler didn’t ask any questions. He just absorbed everything Josh was saying, hoping it’d magically make more sense coming from Josh instead of his professor. No such luck, of course. Tyler was only slightly less confused now, and barely even knew how to start when he tried the second problem on his own.

A long time passed by, and under Josh’s instruction, Tyler hobbled through six more problems. (Which he counted as thirty-six, because of all the parts.)

“Ty, that can’t be your answer,” Josh said, for the third time. Tyler would do so well on the first part, and then get to the domain part and mess up every time. “You can’t get an answer if a negative number is under the square root, so it’s bracket, zero, infinity, parenthesis.”

Josh was patient as ever with him, but Tyler felt hopeless inside. He didn’t understand how he was supposed to be able to tell what rules to use, not when there were so many different kinds of problem…

The way they all called for something different scared him, because he wasn’t sure if he could memorize all the rules before next class.

But I guess if I had to have someone help me out, I’m glad it’s Josh, Tyler thought, looking at his pink-haired best friend. Tyler was so thankful for Josh spending so much time helping him out, even though he was sure Josh had something better he could be doing on a nice night like this.

Six problems later, Josh shut the book with a loud “Woo! It’s done!” and a high five to Tyler.

Tyler smiled. “I’m glad that’s done with. Thanks so much for helping me study, dude, it really helped me out.”

“It’s really no problem, Ty, I literally had nowhere else to be anyways,” Josh said cheerily. That was a total lie. His friend Debby had wanted him to go to a club with her that night. But as much as he’d like to hang with her, Tyler was a better deal any day.  
\--

The months flew by for Tyler, in a whirlwind of studying and writing and Josh. 

Everything Tyler did fell into those three categories.

Lately though, he’d had less time for writing because semester exams were right around the corner. His life was mostly studying and Josh now, filled with late nights at the library, passing out on the couches there and waking up embarrassingly curled into Josh in the middle of the night.

\---

A/N: I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’mabandoningthisstoryI’msorry


End file.
